JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — This article was written with help from a report from our news partners at the Florida Times-Union. Read more here.
Most Jacksonville residents have a love-hate relationship with the Buckman Bridge.
While it provides a vital artery to cross the St. Johns River in order to access Mandarin or Orange Park, commuters will tell you that it's often congested and a dangerous area for crashes.
Nevertheless, the bridge serves an important role in Jacksonville and has a few surprising facts you might not know about. Here are five things to know about the Buckman Bridge.
1. It was named after an attorney
Former U.S. Rep. Charles E. Bennett suggested the bridge be named for Henry Holland Buckman, who had been a prominent legislator instrumental in establishing a state road system and developing the St. Johns River channel. In 1905, he authored the Buckman Act, which laid the foundation for higher education in Florida.
2. It's been open for 51 years
The Henry Holland Buckman Bridge crossing the St. Johns River opened to traffic in May of 1970 and proved a powerful influence on development on both sides of the river. This artist rendering appeared in the Florida Times-Union announcing the project in the early 1960s.
3. It got an upgrade
An expansion project was necessary a few years ago because average daily traffic use had increased nearly 11-fold in 20 years. The expansion added two travel lanes and two safety lanes to each of the twin spans. The expansion portion opened in January of 1997
4. A fistfight once broke out at a planning meeting
The first public hearing was scheduled in July 1963, but it wasn’t until August when more than 200 concerned citizens met in the newly built town hall to hear representatives from the Florida Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Commission.
The bridge plan had been reclassified as part of the federal interstate system and as a leg of Interstate 295. The meeting adjourned with no decision and with no bloodshed - but there was a fistfight in the parking lot. Eight months later, in April 1964, the decision was made to locate the bridge just north of the Clay County line.